By Wilson Adekumola
A financial expert, Okechuwu Unegbu has criticized the multiplicity of service charges by Deposit Money Banks, urging the Central Bank of Nigeria to regulate their activities.
Unegbu who was a past president of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, made the urge while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
He said banks no longer empathise with their customers, as was the case in the past.
“What we have now is a situation where the DMBs pile up so many unexplained charges on their customers without offering any service.
“Most of the bank officials know next to nothing about banking, and the heads of the banks are also complicit.
“The acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi, should pay particular attention to understanding the DMBs and their customers, and take full charge of regulating their activities,” he advised.
Unegbu stated that the mission of any bank should be to serve its customers without expecting any favours noting, in the past, the only charges that banks imposed on their customers were the Commission on Turnover and interest payments on loans, which were strictly regulated by the CBN.
“In the past, banks could not charge above what the CBN had stipulated, but these days they are making more money cunningly. Most of them are there for the money they make.
“The CIBN has discussed this issue severally; that banks should serve their customers with conscience,” he said.
NAN reported that many Nigerians have complained about the multiple, unexplained charges being deducted from their bank accounts.
Findings, however, revealed that there are specific bank charges approved by the CBN:
Electronic Funds Transfer is N50 for transactions done above N50,000; N25 for N5,000 – N50,000 and N10 charge for below N5,000.
The charge on Automatic Teller Machines withdrawals from other banks’ ATMs is N35 for the third withdrawal within the same month.
Card Maintenance Fee for Naira Debit/Credit Cards linked to savings accounts attract a maximum of N50 quarterly maintenance fee, while foreign currency-denominated debit/credit cards attract 10 dollars.
The charge for hardware token is subject to cost recovery to a maximum charge of N2,500.
